WE CELEBRATED ELVIS PRESLEY’S 76 BIRTHDAY
IN TUPELO AND MEMPHIS
By Earlene Hieronymus

 

Nancy and I found a delightful commuter flight to Memphis:  only had to arrive 15 minutes before take off, no parking fees, no security search, we took our opened bottles of water on board and other pleasantries.  Nine passenger seats, a pilot and a co-pilot!  Our rental car was parked outside the door when we arrived.

On the way to Tupelo, we stopped in Holly Springs for lunch.  I had the best fried chicken I have ever eaten at Annie’s Restaurant.  We drove by “Graceland II” at the recommendation of the proprietor of Annie’s Restaurant.  She told us that “Graceland II or Elvis II” in Holly Springs is the biggest tourist attraction in the south.  ??  We drove by but did NOT go in as she suggested.  Kind of spooky we thought.  Maybe next time.

Met an energetic group of ladies at the Elvis ticket office in Tupelo.  One was Mary Pat Van Epps, (the gal that caught Bill Cherry’s belt in Memphis last year during Elvis Week).  We were invited and attended the “E Club” Birthday party that night at The Gum Tree Museum.

We attended Bill Cherry’s Show at the Lyric Theatre.  He did a fabulous job in spite of his kidney stone attack and procedure that day. 

Bob Bennett sat behind us at that show (said he went to school with Elvis – he was a year ahead of Elvis)

Saturday, Jan 8^th (Elvis’s and Nancy’s birthday), we went to Elvis’s birthplace.  We were able to visit with Guy Thomas Harris.  We bought his book WE REMEMBER ELVIS co-authored with Azalia Moore, Sybil Presley and Lee Clark.  We were interviewed by WTVA TV while celebrating his birthday there.

Then, we drove to Memphis to attend the Memphis Symphony Orchestra Elvis Birthday Concert with Terry Mike Jeffrey and Band.   It was a wonderful experience.  Totally different audience that those of ETAs!

We scooted to Graceland the next morning for the 8 a.m. Gospel Show with The Imperials.  We had to buy yet another Elvis shirt and tights to keep warm.  Then we hot-footed on over to Mary Beck’s “Elvis Ole Tyme Gospel and Dinner on the Table” at the Memphis Plaza Hotel.

Our “puddle jumper” called us in the middle of that show requesting us to arrive at the airport early as the weather was closing in…..Just in time, by the way.

A Wonderful Trip!!!

 

P.S. Another wonderful roadtrip was our jaunt to Trenton, IL for Bill Cherry’s Show December 18^th!  What an entertainer!

Earlene Hieronymus